St Anne Award

Catherine Raphael (née Holley, Frances Baines, 1971) tabled a suggestion at the 2003 Old Girls’ Guild A.G.M. that an annual award be made to an Old Girl whose dedicated service to the community went above and beyond the call of duty. Thus the St Anne Award came into being to give special recognition, once a year, to an Old Girl whose efforts to give back something to her community have been exceptional.

NOMINATIONS

Should you consider one of your fellow Old Girls to be a worthy nominee please complete the nomination form below by the end of December. All the nominations are reviewed by the Old Girls’ Committee and the St Anne Award is presented annually on Old Girls’ Day.

Jo James (née Brown, Frances Baines, 1967)

On Old Girls' Day Jo James was awarded with the prestigious St Anne Award for her incredible service to mentally challenged children. After completing her Bachelor of Social Science degree majoring in Social Work, Jo immediately began making a difference in the lives of numerous children. She began her positive impact on young people while working for the Empangeni Child Welfare after first doing social work for the Pietermaritzburg Mental Health Society. Jo later became Principal of Sonskynhoekie Special School for mentally handicapped children which at that time was only open to white pupils. While the Director of Zululand Mental Health, she was alerted to the desperate need for help to assist the high number of black handicapped children in the area. In 1981, she started Thuthukani Special School in her garage. From the initial 4 children, the number rose to 100 children in 6 months and she realized the enormous need to build a school.
Relying solely on donations she struggled to find suitable land. In 1990, Jo was granted R500 000 by the government to build a school from scratch and was also gifted a piece of land from a local farmer. The first ever multi-racial special school for mentally challenged children in South Africa was built and officially opened in 1993. What an accomplishment! The school now has 412 children of all races with 180 on a waiting list. Jo remains a Trustee 36 years later and is a worthy and deserving winner of the St Anne Award for 2017

Annabel Rosholt (nee Elgie, Frances Baines, 1979)

Annabel is the project Director of the Stellenbosch Community Development Programme which she started in Kayamandi 10 years ago. Working tirelessly she has built it from non-existent to a remarkable, self-sustaining, donor funded, non-profit organisation ,which evaluates 2300 children in the community and supplies those who are malnourished, approximately 2000, with a daily meal. S.C.D.P. has also initiated a food parcel programme for parents, encouraged the establishment of food gardens at homes and helps parents identify and create income earning opportunities through training and mentorship programmes. Annabel is making a dramatic difference in so many people’s lives and is a well deserving winner of out St Anne Award 2016. S.C.D.P. website address is www.lovetogive.org.za

2015 - Angela Thomson (née Ibbotson, Andrews, 1960)

Angela was so appalled that desperation forced humans to scavenge on the landfill site at Grahamstown that she masterminded a recycling project and under her competent management she has improved the plight and self-respect of impoverished citizens in Grahamstown/eRhini. Her project had created jobs, developed skills, reduced litter and pollution, and alerted people to environmental issues. After a successful career in teaching and prior to her recycling initiative, Angela nurtured and encouraged many teachers in farm schools and in remote parts of the Transkei. Her adherence to commendable values such as empathy, disciplined thinking and the benefit of teamwork was probably first learned in the classrooms and on the playing fields of St Anne’s. However her quiet selflessness in uplifting disadvantaged people sets her apart as a blessing to South Africa and a deserving recipient of the 2015 St Anne Award.

2014 - Jenifer Thompson (Née Chapman, Marianne Browne, 1953)

For the past 60 years Jenifer has quietly devoted a lifetime of service to others and has served her community with distinction doing charity work. She lives in Johannesburg where she has raised her four children. She has worked in many areas including running the Department for Physically Disabled Children, belonging to Child Welfare at Vrededorp School, working for the Red Cross, Tara Hospital, the Sandton Ambulance Services, Hospice and Lifeline counselling. In addition she has assisted SANCA visiting schools and educating children on drug abuse and for over a period of 12 years has been counselling at the Linden, Bramley and Sandton Police Stations and at the Sandton Clinic.

2013 - Ros O'Connor (née Dunn, Frances Baines, 1966)

Ros O'Connor was recognised for her indefatigable social conscience and the considerable gifts of her time, energy and determination to make a difference to diverse and disadvantaged school communities.

2011 - Didi Francis (Usherwood, 2001)

Didi Francis cycled from Cairo to Cape Town, with a team of seven fellow (male) cyclists, to raise funds for the Millennium Promise and the Millennium Villages project in Tanzania. Their efforts resulted in R 1 500 000 being raised.

2009 - Jennifer Shumaker (née Harison, Andrews, 1969)

Jennifer Shumaker began working with The Heifer Project, a privately funded group that assists the poor by donating a heifer (or a similarly appropriate animal) to a deserving recipient. Later, Jennifer joined the Mercy Corps and was sent to Liberia to help to rehabilitate child soldiers. Most recently she has established a family practice specialising in conflict resolution, working particularly with abused women and children in homeless shelters.

2007 - Jane Inglis (née Matterson, Macrorie, 1964)

Jane Inglis (pictured left) has been instrumental in making changes at Turning Point Home in Brixton, Johannesburg where she is fondly known as 'Mama Jane', a loving nickname she has acquired from the boys.

2006 - Tessa Carss (née Leary, Frances Baines, 1964)

Tessa Carss, in partnership with her husband, established the Zoë Carss Education Trust as a memorial to their daughter, with the intention of advancing education, most particularly amongst children and young adults, in developing countries.

2005 - Sarah Dottridge (née Smythe, Macrorie, 1968)

Sarah Dottridge (pictured right) devoted nearly thirty years of her life to the community of Sweetwaters, in the Kwazulu-Natal region of Vulindlela, near Pietermaritzburg. Sarah made a significant difference to this densely populated, semi-rural community of about 100 000 people, most of whom live in conditions of extreme hardship and deprivation.

2004 - Meryl Harrison (née Anderson, Macrorie, 1956)

Meryl Harrison fought for the plight of neglected and abandoned animals in Zimbabwe during the land distributions.